Scars
by Queen of Crack Pairings
Summary: When Ancarui, head caravanner of Edge, takes her friend Pardign to Conall Curach, he discovers that there's something that his friend wants more than anything else; scars. In the acid rain, everything seems so simple.


The water touched her skin, hissing angrily as she realised that the protective aura of the crystal was beyond her reach. She'd run too far ahead in her eagerness, not even noticing the lack of clean air or the pain of miasma eating her away.

Big blue eyes turned onto her comrade, freezing the boy in place as she stared at him.

But she smiled, even as her skin turned angry shades of red from the acidic rain. And the miasma filling her lungs would HAVE to be causing her pain, wouldn't it? The poison eating her from the inside out, and from the outside in. She'd be nothing at this rate. And he was helpless. Still, his feet pounded the marshy ground, trying to get his friend back inside the circle, where she would heal from the purified air, some Striped Apples and the many Cures he'd cast on her to make those burns (_Oh by the Lady of Light it was eating her skin away_) disappear.

A sahagin jumped out at him, fierce and hissing as it tried to jab at him. Not the highest priority now, must get to the Selkie standing so close and yet so far…

Purple silver hair burning, the nasty smell making her wrinkle her nose as her knees gave out. And yet she still seemed unfazed, just hugged herself to keep warm in the cold, liquid miasma raining down upon her.

How could she just accept her death like this? This wasn't the Ancarui he knew!

She looked back up at him, still those blue eyes dulling with the fatal toxins. But she smiled again, her teeth still white enough to blind him from all those apples she ate.

This shouldn't be how it ended. She deserved so much more. A happy ending, with a husband who could keep up with her and a few children (should she suffer them) on a patch of land back in Edge. Not dying here, in Conall Curach with the sahagins and the broken dreams of so many other Selkies like her.

"Ancarui!" he called, brown eyes bulging in panic as the fur cuffs on her top and around her wrists finally gave up the fight and fell to the ground in a dissolving, smoking pile.

Legs pumping, Sahagin right behind him, the Clavat ran over and managed to catch her in the crystal's radius before she lost all consciousness.

"Hey Pardign…You came…" she beamed, face covered in weeping sores like the rest of her skin. She'd never looked more broken, but she still managed to haul herself to her feet and slash at the Sahagin, crushing it in a blow.

The girl's strength was amazing. But she couldn't stand against the miasma. No one could be that strong, not even her friend De Nam who'd come here to study the bane of their lives.

_Where was that Cure stone now…She was nearly dead and he had to lose his magicite now of all times?!_

"Don't. I'm fine. Give me a Striped Apple and we should be able to leave," she sighed, hair sticking in toxic clumps and burning at her temples.

"I need to clean you off at least," he replied sternly, making her wave a weary arm.

"I'm tired. I want to go. Please."

Her voice was so exhausted. But he wanted to know one thing.

_Why, by the Lady of Light, were you just sitting there, dying?!_

She laughed at his question, flicking the tip of his blond cowlick affectionately.

"I'm tired of this, Pardign. You aren't? This is the first caravan run you've done in a while, but even you should have some remnants of your time in our caravan. I've done it for twenty years. I haven't gotten a day older. I have no scars. I wanted to see if I could get scars. That's all."

She sure talked a lot for someone so tired…

Even so, he picked her up, struggling due to her full pouch of treasures, and staggered out of the marsh. His armour was being damaged by the liquid miasma, but he didn't care right now. Armour was replaceable. She, this girl who had been his friend since they were both five, was not.

"I'm taking you to Shella. We're resting at Fum, then going straight there. The Yukes will heal you," he panted, wondering if he had any Striped Apples to give her.

She didn't say anything in reply, stupid headstrong Selkie.

Scars? They were just as good as a journal for looking back on stories. But there's no point in getting them on purpose.


End file.
